Murgh Tikka Masala Recipe

"Namaste", "Sat-Sri-Akal", "As-salamu Alaykum", "Hello"!!

To my readers, Comfort Food Creator (CFC) is back again with a new thriller. In order to make your weekend exciting, CFC has a very special recipe for you to go for. The name of the recipe is -"Murgh Tikka Masala." The word "Murgh" means chicken, "Tikka" means small pieces of meat marinated in a spicy mixture, and "Masala" means blend of Indian spices. This very recipe is passed on to me from many generations. My Grandma used to call it, "Bhuna Kukkad." I still remember, how she used to tell her stories of cooking meat in an earthen pot. These early ages of cooking has now become a benchmark for the budding chefs around. 

Murgh Masala Tikka is a very popular main-course dish across the Indian sub-continent. The recipe has been given a prominent place by the Indian chefs of the Great Britain. Tender pieces of chicken is marinated with yoghurt and some spectacular Indian spices. The chicken is then grilled and cooked in a tangy onion-tomato gravy. To make it more colourful, we've added some freshly diced capsicum, bell-peppers and onion. This delicious thriller, is then topped with cream and freshly chopped coriander. Murgh Masala Tikka best goes with a Plain-Rice, Tandoori Roti or Garlic-Naan on side. 

This recipe has three parts to it. The chicken is first marinated, then grilled and the cooked in an onion-tomato gravy. The aroma of the recipe is more than enough to make you drool. Traditionally the chicken was cooked in an earthen pot, imparting more of calcium and iron in the food. As the saying goes - "Old is gold", so we'll be taking some cooking ideas from the past for this recipe. We'll also learn how to impart a smoky flavour to a dish. For this we take a piece of charcoal and heat it in a small bowl. After that we add 1tbsp of ghee/clarified-butter to it and keep that small bowl in the centre of the prepared dish. The dish is then covered with a lid, so that the dish absorbs the smoky flavour of hot charcoal. This method is called "Dhungar" or "Coal Smoking."

Moving forward with this epic-thriller, we'll see what ingredients are required to make this delicious Murgh Masala Tikka. Comfort Food Creator, has always been a big supporter of using fresh-local ingredients with easy cooking techniques in our recipes. So for this recipe also we will be following the same rule.

→ Preparation Time - 45 minutes

→ Serving - 4

Ingredients Required 

For the Marination:

• 500 grams of boneless chicken 
• 2tbsp curd
• 1 1/2tsp salt
• 1 1/2tsp lal-mirch/red-chilli powder
• 1 1/2tsp haldi/turmeric powder
• 1 1/2tsp coriander powder
• 1 1/2tsp cumin powder
• 1 1/2tsp aamchur/dry-mango powder
• 1 1/2tsp black pepper
• 1tsp Kasuri-methi/fenugreek leaves
• 1tsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp mustard oil

For the Gravy:

• 2 onions (Make a paste of it)
• 1 onion diced
• 1/2 capsicum diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 2 tomatoes (Make a puree of it)
• 2 slit green chillies
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small stick of cinnamon 
• 2 cardamon pods
• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 3-4 peppercorns
• 2-3 cloves
• 1 1/2tsp salt
• 1tsp lal-mirch/red-chilli powder
• 1tsp haldi/turmeric powder
• 1tsp coriander powder
• 1tsp cumin powder
• 1tsp black pepper
• 4tbsp cooking oil
• 2tbsp cream
• Freshly chopped coriander

Steps to Follow - 

1. Take the chicken in a bowl. Make insertions in the chicken with the help of a knife. This is done so that the marination goes inside the meat. Add the curd, all the spices and oil to it. Mix it nicely and then add lemon juice to it. Add some crushed kasuri-methi/fenugreek-leaves to it. Keep it aside for an hour.
2. Pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degree centigrade. Line a baking tray with foil pepper and set your chicken one by one on the tray. Grill one side of the chicken for 10 minutes and the other for another ten minutes. 
3. By the time our chicken is being grilled, put a kadai/cooking-pot on the burner and turn on the flame. Add oil to it and keep the flame at high. After 2 minutes add 1 bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamon and peppercorns to it. 
4. When the seeds starts to crackle, add the slit green chillies with the onion paste to it. Will cook it for 3-4 minutes at a medium flame, till our onion-paste turns golden brown. 
5. You'll see that paste is turning a little dry. Add 1/4 cup of water to it and again cook for a minute. Will now add our tomato paste to it. Mix it nicely and cover it. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. 
6. We'll now add our powdered spices to it. Add the red-chilli, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder to it. Add 1 1/2tsp salt to it and mix it nicely. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, till the oil starts to separate. Keep it at a low flame.
7. Take another pan and add 1tbsp oil to it. When the oil turns hot, add the freshly diced onion, capsicum and bell-pepper. Toss it and cook the vegetables for 2-3 minutes. 
8. Now add the tossed vegetables to the cooked gravy.  Coat it nicely with the gravy. Now we'll add our grilled chicken to it. Mix it nicely with the gravy. Cook for another 5 minutes at a medium flame. 
9. Garnish it with some freshly chopped coriander and cream. 
10. Serve it hot with a side of Plain Rice, Tandoori Roti or Garlic-Naan. 

Try it and let me know how it turns up. Comfort Food Creator is always there to help our comfort food makers. Enjoy your food and stay tuned as we have a lot to offer to our readers. 

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